Tuesday, April 29, 2008

I was a little skeptical at first, after all I didn't think they'd have a category for people that just like to wander around looking at things, but surprisingly they did.

I'm an EASK which means I'm an explorer.Here's the writeup from the quiz in more detail:

EASK players often live by the phrase 'The journey is often more enjoyable than the destination.' They are motivated by meeting the challenges of the world, but they are usually in no rush--because seeing the creatures and places of the world is even more fun.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

As I mentioned in my last post here's my priest alt. I now have two characters on Perenolde. Big sister Kirsa and little sister Kimmykat.Kimmy is a priest which is new to me. I've never played a priest, so I'm still dealing with the learning curve.

So far I have her entirely in the holy talent tree. We'll see how long that lasts...

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

1) Kill 10 of these.2) Deliver this to so and so.3) Escort this person to this place.4) Gather 15 of these items.

Listening to The Instance a while back I remember Randy saying that when Lich King came out if "the first quest is to go out and kill 10 boars, I'm quitting the game."

You get the picture.

There is an interesting quest in the blood elf starting area that is a little bit different and almost breaks the mold. In fact if Blizz would have exercised a little more creativity, it could have been really great.

In the quest The Party Never Ends, Lord Saltheril asks you to pick up supplies for a party. To do this you travel around Eversong Woods gathering food and drink items.

The fun part is when you turn the items in, you get an invitation to the party. This means you can not only go to the party, but you can partake in the festivities, including all you want to eat and drink. The party scene actually reminds of something straight out of The SIMS. It actually wouldn't have hurt if Blizzard would have borrowed some of that model to use in the quest, and in the game.

The problem is the items you can get aren't unique, and they really aren't even up to your level. Cheap alcohol and low-level food items aren't really much use.

If Blizz was smart they would take this idea and implement it somewhere else, but make the party goods worthwhile. To prevent hoarding and dumping at the auction house, make them bind on pickup.

After all, you can't have too many parties in WOW.

Cya,

Forest Cat

P.S. That's another one of my alts in the picture. If I wasn't before, I am definitely an altaholic now. She's a priest in Hunter Haley's guild.

Friday, April 18, 2008

I noticed one of the picnic umbrellas in the middle of Orgrimmar so of course Kirsa had to take a seat underneath it.When I do this in Darnassus, Keila is typically joined by 4 or 5 people.

Kirsa remained alone until the umbrella vanished.

Guess that's the difference between Darnassus and Orgrimmar.

Must be a horde thing.*

Cya,

Forest Cat

* Actually I'm kidding. It's funny, but now that I'm spending a lot of time on the "other side" I've noticed very little difference in the players. Probably, because like me, they are hanging out in both areas.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

This shot is from Searing Gorge. Keila was on her way to visit Mother Smolderweb.I like the look of this area, from the pouring lava, to that rickety wooden bridge. Not a lot of WOW makes me think of Tolkien, but for some reason this shot did.

Way back when, I started a blood elf on Bladefist. She was a pally. I commented at the time how attractive the starting armor on a blood elf was compared to a night elf.

As you can see it doesn't stay that way. Kirsa has some decent stuff, for her level, but it has that tattered look of most of the armor you acquire in your teens.Kirsa joined the Epic Dolls guild on Perenolde a week ago. Keila is in a very quiet and casual guild on Bladefist (Hi Star and Sal!), so being in a high profile guild linked to the podcast is a very new thing for me.

All of the gang has been very nice, so if I can overcome this dual server thing it should be a lot of fun.

If you haven't listened to the Epic Dolls podcast I highly recommend it. It's well produced, fun, and informative.

Monday, April 14, 2008

This is the Spectral Tiger from the World of Warcraft trading card game. For those that missed it, this is one of those prizes you get from getting one of the random, and very rare, loot cards. By keying in the code from the card you are allowed to purchase this mount.I have to admit after finally seeing one in person I was underwhelmed. The armor on the tiger just doesn't look right. Either the armor needs to go, or it needs the same level of transparency.

If I'm lucky enough to stumble on one of these cards, It's going to Ebay.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Here's my blood elf Kirsa. I'm adjusting to being on the Horde side and being on a new server. It adds a whole new aspect to the game when you start over from scratch. I have to admit I like the challenge and it's like playing a whole new game.I will say that I'm a lot better at earning gold than I was as a lowbie the first time around.

Friday, April 11, 2008

A while back I stumbled across Dianius's guide to Soloing Mother Smolderweb. I've been wanting to try this for a couple of reasons. I enjoy solo challenges and one of these days I'd like to get the complete Wildheart set. The wildheart boots can only be gotten from that big spider.I finally got to attempt this, and like others before me, found the guide to be invaluable.

Only one thing has been changed since the guide was written. When you stealth past the orcs, the last group you come to, just before you head up the ramp to the spiders, have been moved around.

To stealth past the orcs stay to the left and pass through just to the right of the sleeping orc, and to the left of the one standing up. See that candle and the mushrooms on the left? You will go right over the top of the largest mushroom while sneaking between the two orcs. This is the trickiest part and I recommend following Dianius's stealth techniques while doing this.Once I reached Mother Smolderweb I found the fight went exactly as planned, with a couple of advantages I discovered.

Being level 61 made the stealth part very easy and gave me a little more power in the battle. But the big advantage is the fact that I am a Moonkin. Balance has a huge advantage here. I was getting regular crits of 1500+ which is almost 3 times what Dianius was getting. This has a little to do with my level, but a lot to do with being a Boomkin.

Secondly, at the end of the battle Dianius describes it as a suicide mission. This is true unless you have the Treants. These guys are great for handling extra mob pulls and they help you defeat the four spawned spiders rather easily.A word of warning. I thought it might be a good idea to wear Mother Smolderweb down a bit with the Treants. So in my first attempt I sent them after her at the beginning of the fight. All was going well until they pulled the roamers. Oops. That was a quick death. I recommend just hanging on to the trees until the end.

I had a lot of fun with this and I highly recommend it if you like solo challenges. I should mention I got the Wildheart Boots* on the second attempt so I was very lucky.Cya,

Forest Cat

* No need to tell me the Wildheart Boots are already way below my level. I still want the set because of the look.

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About Me

Welcome to what is essentially a digital diary of my days in WoW, going all the way back to the first week I started playing.
My main is Keilakat on the Bladefist server. I have a bunch of alts, but they are currently on extended vacation.
I tend to write from the point of view of an Azeroth tourist, so if you're looking for hardcore tips, you are probably in the wrong place.